August 18, 2017 | Volume XV, Issue 8
Emboldened White Supremacists March & Murder in Charlottesville Baltimore rallies against hate and violence
by Sage Piper The white supremacists stood in a circle in the Charlottesville park, hoodless but waving Confederate and Nazi flags and posters of the cross, chanting in booming unison “Fuck you, faggots.” They were surrounded by counter-protesters but separated from them by two fences, yellow police tape, and a wall of stone-faced police in their lime green vests. A Huffington Post reporter captured the moment in a tweet: “You heard that right. They’re chanting “Fuck you faggots.” 2017. #Charlottesville” After hundreds of white supremacists and neo-Nazis descended on Charlottesville and wreaked a night and a day of brutal hatred and terror, Baltimore and the rest of the nation struggled to quickly deal with the fallout. Last Sunday evening, to close
out that horrific weekend on an active and salving note, over a thousand Baltimoreans came together in Wyman Park Dell in solidarity and in defiance. They marched up St. Paul Street and down Charles, pledging to continue the fight against hatred, bigotry, and all forms of both symbolic and systematic oppression. Chants of “Black lives matter,” “Muslims lives matter,” and “Trans lives matter” wafted in the Baltimore air. Mayor Catherine Pugh called for her administration to move forward with the removal of Confederate statues in the city, and the Baltimore City Council voted unanimously to pass a resolution calling for the immediate destruction of all Confederate monuments. And
By Frankie Kujawa The sound of merriment once again returns the 27-acre village of Revel Grove in celebration of the 2017 Maryland Renaissance Festival. A crown-jewel of Maryland, the festival begins on August 26th and runs Saturdays and Sundays (and Labor Day Monday) through October 22nd. “The festival is currently in its 41st
season,” explained Artistic Director Carolyn Spedden. Spedden, who recently chatted with Baltimore OUTloud, is responsible for the creation of the annual storyline and scripts for each Jousting and more at the season. “With respect to Maryland entertainment, there are Renaissance our independent acts such Festival, as the variety acts, musithrough Ocober 22nd cians, and street performers. Then we have the acting company, whose actors come from the Washington and Baltimore region and form an ensemble who perform Shakespeare, original scripts, and improvisation.” Spedden works tirelessly each year
we all tried once again, both individually and collectively, to wrestle with the darker side of our 2017 political reality: a president sits in the Oval Office who refuses to denounce the white supremacy and racism for the domestic terrorism that it is. The brutal and murderous weekend in downstate Virginia has —continued on page 3
Protesters on Charles Street in Baltimore
Renaissance Festival: A Revel for Everyone
to create entertaining work that is also historically accurate. “One way I keep the show fresh each season is choosing a different year in the reign of King Henry VIII. I do intense research into both what was happening politically and personally in the king’s life, and also what was happening in England during that time for the common person.” Once the current Renaissance Festival is over, Spedden begins her task of compiling information for the following year’s theme. “I begin researching the show
immediately following the festival. I spend maybe four months reading and researching, then devise a story. For instance, this year we are doing 1527. It’s a very tumultuous year in Henry VIII’s reign because it sets into motion his quest for an annulment to his first wife, Queen Katherine of Aragon, and his pronouncement of his love for Anne Boleyn.” Finding a happy medium between old and new is one of the challenges. “A tricky part of my job is keeping a balance between bringing back familiar entertain—continued on page 24
Travel back to the 16th century through drama, song, food, and magic